Worker takeaway: Being called “exempt,” “salaried,” or “management” is not proof of anything. The employer has to show that your actual duties and your actual pay fit an exemption.

On January 15, 2025, a unanimous Supreme Court decided E.M.D. Sales, Inc. v. Carrera. The case involved sales representatives for a food distributor who said they were owed overtime; the employer said they were exempt “outside salesmen.” The appeals court below had required the employer to prove the exemption by a higher standard, clear and convincing evidence. The Supreme Court held that the ordinary civil standard applies instead: the employer must prove the exemption by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning more likely than not.

For workers, the important point is unchanged and now settled nationwide: an exemption from overtime is the employer’s burden to prove. The employer must show that the job, as actually performed, fits one of the exemptions in the Fair Labor Standards Act and, for the common “white-collar” exemptions, that the worker was paid a true salary at or above the required level. In New York the salary level required for the executive and administrative exemptions is well above the federal figure.

  • A job title does not create an exemption. What you did all day does.
  • A salary alone does not create an exemption either, and a day rate is not a salary at all.
  • If the employer cannot prove the exemption, overtime is owed for every hour over 40.

This is a decision in another matter. Usher Law Group did not handle the case, and this summary is general information only.

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